Tigers follow Martin's lead, race past CBU

Friday, November 2

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

Christian Brothers (exhibition)

Christian Bros.

Memphis

The Tigers had plenty of moments to celebrate Friday night at FedExForum.

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Nov 02, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

UofM senior guard scores 24 points in 95-68 victory at FedExForum

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis guard Jeremiah Martin set the tone by scoring his team's first 11 points en route to a team-high 24 as the Tigers raced past Christian Brothers University, 95-68, Friday night in an exhibition at FedExForum.

Martin, a pre-season first-team American Athletic Conference selection, made nine of 12 field goals – including four of five from beyond the arc – and added four assists. Teammate Kyvon Davenport contributed 16 points and five rebounds and freshman Tyler Harris scored 15 for the Tigers, who shot 52.8 percent.

The Tigers, who open the regular season Tuesday at home against Tennessee Tech, finished their two-game exhibition schedule unbeaten. They defeated another local program, LeMoyne-Owen, 120-66, last week.

First-year Memphis coach Penny Hardaway expected CBU to play at a much slower pace than LeMoyne-Owen. For the most part, his team was up to the challenge the Bucs presented.

"Offensively, we knew they were going to be methodical, really slow and deliberate," Hardaway said. "And we knew their (offensive) execution was going to make us have to play and be on our toes the entire night We still have some work to do, but I'm still proud of the win and how we played."

In addition to Martin, Davenport and Harris, the Tigers got a solid 27 minutes from freshman guard Alex Lomax. He finished with eight assists, six steals and five rebounds. His back-to-back, no-look assists midway through the first half created easy baskets for Davenport and Isaiah Maurice and gave the UofM a 26-14 lead.

When Lomax assisted on a layup by Harris a minute later, it capped a 17-0 run that put the Tigers in command at 30-14. CBU never got closer than 11 points the remainder of the game and trailed by as many as 29 late in the second half.

"A-Lo is more of a defensive player and a playmaker and run-the-team type of guard," Hardaway said. "He's trying to get better offensively, which is what he's going to have to do. But (defense and playmaking) is his game. He's going to defend really well and get his teammates involved."

CBU was led by guard Joe Laravie, who finished with a game-high 26 points. Adam Dieball scored 11. The Bucs shot 39.6 percent for the game.

After getting 32 assists on 42 field goals against LeMoyne-Owen, the Tigers got 23 on 38 field goals against CBU.

Memphis led 45-31 at the half, led by Martin who scored 16 points and Lomax, who dished out six of the team's 13 first-half assists. The Tigers had 13 assists on 17 first-half field goals.

The Tigers shot 50 percent in the opening half and made six of their 14 3-pointers. CBU struggled from the field shooting 33 percent (10-of-30) and dropping in only three of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Laravie had 17 points at the half to lead the Bucs.

"We got a feel for what a real game is going to look like," Martin said. "This game was challenging because they are a disciplined team and well-coached. And they run their offense to perfection. It was great for us to see that. I think we'll be way more prepared."

NOTABLES

For only the fourth time in 13 exhibition games against CBU, the Tigers scored 90 or more points. They scored 98 in 2005, 90 in 2007 and 92 in 2013.
Tigers freshman David Wingett made his debut after missing the LeMoyne-Owen game because of concussion protocol. Wingett played 14 minutes, but did not score. He was 0-2 from the field.
Memphis improved to 12-1 vs. CBU in exhibition games. The Tigers are 2-0 vs. the Bucs in regular-season games.
CBU coach Mike Nienaber was facing his fourth Memphis coach in his 20 seasons with the Bucs. He also coached against John Calipari, Josh Pastner and Tubby Smith.